Most of the current approaches to the range estimation of an acoustic noise source are based on numerical simulations of acoustic propagation through the ocean, e.g., Matched Field Processing (“MFP”) algorithms. These algorithms require precise knowledge of the propagation environment, such as sound speed, density, and attenuation as a function of range and depth, so that simulated and received acoustic fields can be matched for range estimation. In practice, range estimation by MFP-based methods become problematic due to the lack of knowledge of the environmental parameters. Several researchers adopted the guide-source concept from astronomy to calibrate the propagation environment with a known source. Rouseff (1989) and Al-kurd and Porter (1995) used a holographic array by using a guide source transmitting a continuous wave (“CW”) signal at different water depths. D. Rousseff, “Ocean Acoustic Holography: Using a Reference Source to Remove Oceanographic Variability,” Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle (1989), incorporated herein by reference. A. Al-kurd and R. Porter, “Performance analysis of the holographic array processing algorithm, “Ocean Acoustic Holography: Using a reference source to remove Oceanographic variability,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 97(3), 1747-1763, (1995), incorporated herein by reference. Siderius et al. (1997) used a broadband guide source at a fixed water depth. M. Siderius, D. Jackson, D. Rouseff, and R. Porter, “Multipath compensation in shallow water environments using a virtual receiver,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 102(6), 3439-3449, (1997), incorporated herein by reference. Such methods require the knowledge of the environmental parameters between the guide source and the target. Thode (2000) used a broadband guide source at a fixed depth and created a ‘virtual receiver array’ by using the waveguide invariant theory. M. Thode, “Source ranging with minimal environmental information using a virtual receiver and waveguide invariant theory,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 108(4), 1582-1594, (2000), incorporated herein by reference.